aeropics.ca

This is the second instalment for the visit to Red Deer, AB. This time I selected a number of Air Spray aircraft, mostly Electras. There were 13 of them at the airport, 7 flying examples (one more flying example was stationed in California at the time) and 6 non-flying airframes. There is a good chance that one of the two Zantop machines will be converted to a tanker in the near future.

On a nice fall day (at least in Penticton, BC) we decided to fly to Red Deer, AB to check out what Buffalo Airways and Air Spray have on the ramp. We were not disappointed as there was a total of 18 Lockheed L.188 Electras on the field! This must be an all time record anywhere in the world. And, of course there are a number of DC-3's, a DC-4, CL-215 and CV-240 on the field as well . . . This is a selection of the Buffalo planes at the airport - a separate entry about Air Spray will follow.

On a beautiful fall day I joined the Victoria Flying Club for a fly-in to Rowena's Inn Sandpiper Golf Course. They have a private airfield with a 2100 foot landing strip. The planes and about 20 people met in Chilliwack and nine planes then flew into the small strip about 5 miles to the North of Chilliwack. Because of fairly high trees on one end of the strip you have to land on rwy 20 and take off on rwy 02. This meant that we landed with a 5 - 10 knot tailwind and some of the pilots came in a bit hot and long, but no real issues were had by anyone. Great - albeit SLOW!!! - lunch on the terrace of the local restaurant and then we all departed to our home destinations. Great day and a good place to go back to!!!

On a recent flight to the US I visited the Deer Park Airport (KDEW) because I heard of the aircraft salvage company based there. Unfortunately nobody was there . . . middle of the week and NOT lunch time!

In early October we planned a fly-out to Grand Forks to see the builder of the Rans aircraft there and then to continue to Nelson, BC for lunch. The weather was with us and we had 6 planes with 14 people along for the ride. We plan to organize more fly-outs in the coming year!

Brewster is a center of fruit production in Washington state and there are all those helicopters to prove it . . . They use them to dry the cherries after rain to make them grow better and without any blemishes. That they use OLD helicopters makes this interesting for spotters!